1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a means and method for sealing roofs, walls, driveway cracks and areas where water-proofing is needed. More particularly, the present invention relates to an asphaltic composition in a form which facilitates spot application of bituminous adhesive to roof flashing around perimeters, protrusions and roof membrane laps; side wall cracks, driveway cracks and numerous other applications where asphalt might be used for caulking or water-proofing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the covering of roofs of buildings, a sheetlike roof-covering material is normally used. Numerous types of such sheets are known (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,617,221, 4,565,724, and 4,374,687).
Generally such a roofing material contains a bituminous layer which serves as an adhesive layer for securing the sheeting onto the roof. Also, it is conventional to overlap these sheets with one another in order to provide a seal. Methods for effecting such sealing are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,036,123.
However, because the roofing material is generally in the form of rolled sheets, it is difficult to seal off those areas of a roof which abut at sharp angles so that a tight sealing overlap can be obtained. The sheeting material itself, while flexible, is relatively rigid and does not adapt itself to contoured surfaces, particularly when the contours are defined by sharp changes of direction.
Also, numerous protrusions exist on a roof, such as, drains, vents, air-conditioning units, expansion joint covers, and the like.
Conventional methods for attempting these difficult-to-cover points of overlap or non-overlap include the use of asphaltic flashing cement. However, where roofing material containing modified bitumen is used, the roofer takes a portion of the roofing material, makes it into a roll shape, and heats the end of the roll attempting to melt whatever modified bitumen is there onto a spot location which is to be sealed. However, this method is inefficient for a number of reasons. Firstly, since the sheet is a laminate of several different materials, the bitumen or asphaltic layer makes up only a small portion of the roof sheeting and even with melting or softening the bitumen portion, one does not obtain a significant amount of melted bitumen. In addition, the rolled-up sheeting is difficult to handle and does not adapt itself easily for spot placement of molten or softened bitumen. Moreover, if it is desired merely to soften the bitumen and rub it onto a particular area, only an insufficient amount of bitumen can actually be smeared onto the area to be coated since the bitumen layer is not entirely at the surface of the sheeting.
As a result, such relatively crude attempts to spot-coat those areas which are difficult to seal with conventional roof sheeting are time consuming and inefficient. Moreover, because of the poor delivery of molten or softened bitumen to the desired area, such seals are very often incomplete. The same problems exist when it is desired to seal cracks in driveways., walls and the like, where the area is relatively small or difficult to reach.